Conceptualization of a Theoretical Foundation on Retrieval from Long-Term Mmemory

Abstract

This article is a partial reorganization of a master's thesis submitted by the first author (Minagawa) to Tokyo Gakugei University in 1978. There have been few studies on memory retrieval processes and why they occur. Minagawa took a hint from the kinetic theory of gas molecules in physics and the idea of chemical equilibrium in chemistry, corrected the shortcomings of the original equation, and succeeded in reconstructing an equation that is partially useful for "quantitative prediction" of the retrieved quantity. The formula was finally obtained by a flash of inspiration.